Mister Mad Mower

The post and winch was my initial idea , but after seeing the WH with the hydraulic set up it got me wondering about using an air fed system , only because i have a couple of air rams an old mate gave me many years ago ( left over from robot building ) .
I realise the limitations of compressed air , but they are light weight and less messy then hydraulics .
And if i use a 12v battery i can run a hazard light and LED headlights as well , so i was thinkiing of keeping it simple and compact as the post would be sticking up at the front but a ram could be low mounted to push up and out at an angle to lift the blade .
Especially as i will be fitting it to a 1970's self propelled rough cut mower i am currently fitting a blade ( Half a 47kg gas bottle ) to with the outlook to using the mower as a snow mover as my house has a slight hill on the rear access route to get to the main rd .And with the winter outlook steering towards another 2010 amount of snow we were faced with 8" to 10" of compacted snow in the village that quickly froze solid seeing myself driving around in the Volvo 850 pulling people out where their cars were unable to simply drive away from the curb .Though i do drop the tyre pressures down to 20psi and i do have a 230v winch that fits to the tow bar and is powerd from a 1200w inverter making it easy for me to help out .
But the others in my neighbourhood quickly get stuck on the little hill , So my intentions are to keep it clear this time so that i can get in and out without the traffic jams as others sit wheel spinning away .
And maybe ( depending upon how well it works out ) clearing the footpaths around the local OAP bungalows , as most of the residents were unable to get to the shops back in 2010 as the snow was just too deep for zingerframes ! .
I could get around 4" of lift if i built the blade to sit on the ground with the wheel adjuster at it's lowest setting and simply raise the deck , but i think the extra weight maybe a bit too much for the linkage mechanism .
I think i will just go ahead and build it , if it works it will be a bonus lol .....

The post and winch was my initial idea , but after seeing the WH with the hydraulic set up it got me wondering about using an air fed system , only because i have a couple of air rams an old mate gave me many years ago ( left over from robot building ) .
I realise the limitations of compressed air , but they are light weight and less messy then hydraulics .
And if i use a 12v battery i can run a hazard light and LED headlights as well , so i was thinkiing of keeping it simple and compact as the post would be sticking up at the front but a ram could be low mounted to push up and out at an angle to lift the blade .
Especially as i will be fitting it to a 1970's self propelled rough cut mower i am currently fitting a blade ( Half a 47kg gas bottle ) to with the outlook to using the mower as a snow mover as my house has a slight hill on the rear access route to get to the main rd .And with the winter outlook steering towards another 2010 amount of snow we were faced with 8" to 10" of compacted snow in the village that quickly froze solid seeing myself driving around in the Volvo 850 pulling people out where their cars were unable to simply drive away from the curb .Though i do drop the tyre pressures down to 20psi and i do have a 230v winch that fits to the tow bar and is powerd from a 1200w inverter making it easy for me to help out .
But the others in my neighbourhood quickly get stuck on the little hill , So my intentions are to keep it clear this time so that i can get in and out without the traffic jams as others sit wheel spinning away .
And maybe ( depending upon how well it works out ) clearing the footpaths around the local OAP bungalows , as most of the residents were unable to get to the shops back in 2010 as the snow was just too deep for zingerframes ! .
I could get around 4" of lift if i built the blade to sit on the ground with the wheel adjuster at it's lowest setting and simply raise the deck , but i think the extra weight maybe a bit too much for the linkage mechanism .
I think i will just go ahead and build it , if it works it will be a bonus lol .....

Been busy restoring the " BUMA" , got it striped and rebuilt with a new coat of paint ( Brush on machine enamel ) to keep it good for another 50 years ! .
This turned out to all origonal , never been apart .I know this due to the knurled adjuster on the top having a grub screw to hold the centering shaft .
The grub screw had a plug over it and the knurling had been done last to hide it all ? .
I had to drill the plug out so as to be able to remove the grub screw and so split the gearnbox cases .
I have left the hole so i can easily take it apart for greasing etc in the future .
I found the grub screw after i noticed a scribed line on the front face of the knurled adjuster , pointing in line with what looked like a keyway down inside so i drilled down and found a cavity , with the grub screw 2 or 3mm below  .

The current model has the full stereophonic subwoofer augmented surround sound with corner tweeters .
I had the  acoustic deadening  retro fitted to myself
OUCH , her hearings still set to max as she's just come in to see what i was laughing at and prodded me in the ribs after reading the posts .

Been busy restoring the " BUMA" , got it striped and rebuilt with a new coat of paint ( Brush on machine enamel ) to keep it good for another 50 years ! .
This turned out to all origonal , never been apart .I know this due to the knurled adjuster on the top having a grub screw to hold the centering shaft .
The grub screw had a plug over it and the knurling had been done last to hide it all ? .
I had to drill the plug out so as to be able to remove the grub screw and so split the gearnbox cases .
I have left the hole so i can easily take it apart for greasing etc in the future .
I found the grub screw after i noticed a scribed line on the front face of the knurled adjuster , pointing in line with what looked like a keyway down inside so i drilled down and found a cavity , with the grub screw 2 or 3mm below  .

Not a well thought out name from a marketing point of view , though 50 years ago iff you were gay you were simply happy .
Wonder how many things will take on a different meaning 50 years from now ! .
But in retrospect a Bolens Ride a Matic could make a good stable mate for a Buma Boring bar ? ..........

Not a well thought out name from a marketing point of view , though 50 years ago iff you were gay you were simply happy .
Wonder how many things will take on a different meaning 50 years from now ! .
But in retrospect a Bolens Ride a Matic could make a good stable mate for a Buma Boring bar ? ..........

Just got this on an auction site .
Buma Boring Bar , 55mm to 90mm or so bore capacity .
Looks to be in good order but the tool holder is missing .
Motor / shafts / gears are all working fine so worth making a tool holder up for it .
I think the spring loaded adjustable cutting tool approach will be the best and easiest way of going about this , as a micrometer can easily be converted to allow for rapid and accurate setting .
My Wolseley WD2 will be the 1st victim as my 2nd engine was bought with a rusted bore that will benefit from a light cleaning as it were .
Looking forward to going from tedious to plain boring .........

Want one , infact simply need one .That is a thing of beauty And has just gone straight to the top of my " have to have " wish list .
 
Get a good named tank sealant kit , the simplest way unless there are through bolts on the alternator side of the tank simply pulling the plate onto a rubber seal ( bit hopeful ) .
Other than that cover the sticker with a clear vinyl and fill the empty tank with boiling water to see if the sticker comes free .
Assuming the tank is a 2 section affair and the plate where the sticker goes is stuck onto the aluminium casting , with the tank full to the brim with water try gently heating around the edge of the plate to burn off any epoxy / glue that would have been used to fix it there .A chefs blowlamp or micro torch is enough to burn epoxy glues .
If it is just epoxy then the plate and tank would have to be cleaned with a stainless steel wire brush and rinsed using carb cleaner several times to give a good grease free surface for you to apply new epoxy to .
Place the plate in position and put some weights on it over night to let it set .Leave it a 2 or 3 days or so before filling the tank with fuel to allow the epoxy to cure  .
Cut the vinyl applied over the sticker to shape and re-glue the sticker back on .

Been delivered today ( Saturday ) and they look like they should grip in anything .

Many years ago i statred off using Mounfields , but even though they use a B&S engine the Mounfields seemed to be plagued with broken rods through the case ? So i moved to Hayters .Using the same B&S engines but no problems ? All i could ever think of was blade timing being different .
I am in no way a collector as i buy what i will use , but do like a nice old Suffolk engine for some reason .
I think the oldest garden related machine i own and use is the Huffy lawn edger new oil once a year and it just keeps on going .It has an old B&S horizontal crank engine with the  pull out tube choke on the carb .Looks the same engine as whats on my Templar rotovator just seems to look a lot older .
I think the newely aquired Wolseley 500 with it's vertical pull start maybe older ? .At least engine wise .
I do own an odd ball piece of machinery though it is more farm related , A Villiers engined winch on a sled / base plate around 30" long , i got it off a boat at Selby nr York .The guy said it had been a post rammer and he got it to fit as a heavy duty winch , it has a foot pedal that when pressed engages a rubber idler wheel between engine and cable drum .When you take your foot off ,  the drum lets go and i supose the hammer fell and did it's job on the post .Though i am not certain as modern sewer winches fitted to cable trailers bear a resemblence .
So it may have started off on a cable trailer and ended up ramming in fence posts before it ended up on a 60' converted barge , then into my garage ....
I just love to hear the sound of older engines ........

Unfortunatly it will be situated within easy reach for her as she actually wanted it , as i recently fitted a new -  old cast iron fire place with tile side panels and she wanted it as an ornament to go with the fire companion set i got her , the poker on that is the thing of many a B&W who dunit film .With it's cast pocker with a long sharp spike comming out from it .
mmmm thinking about it i think i will cancel my life insurance , just to put her off any idea's she maybe having .

More than probably is deadly in a womans hands !
But at least we can iron out our differences with regards to engines
Just hope it's not my head being ironed ......

Lifes too short be be constantly moaned at with regard to such mundane subjects as " But what good is it " or " Why do want another one " .
So i have taken steps to reduce the moans from the wife and purchased her her first authentic vintage hand tool .
My hopes were high but not for long .
The sudden realisation of the fact that i had given her the perfect ( and easily thrown ) means of anger management dawned .
"Let sleeping dogs lie" sprang to mind , even iff they snore whilst doing so .....
But it looks nice after a dip in the electrolosis tank , followed by a quick buff up then a coating of Liberon Iron Paste ( Grapite paste ) to bring it back to life .
 

Many years ago i statred off using Mounfields , but even though they use a B&S engine the Mounfields seemed to be plagued with broken rods through the case ? So i moved to Hayters .Using the same B&S engines but no problems ? All i could ever think of was blade timing being different .
I am in no way a collector as i buy what i will use , but do like a nice old Suffolk engine for some reason .
I think the oldest garden related machine i own and use is the Huffy lawn edger new oil once a year and it just keeps on going .It has an old B&S horizontal crank engine with the  pull out tube choke on the carb .Looks the same engine as whats on my Templar rotovator just seems to look a lot older .
I think the newely aquired Wolseley 500 with it's vertical pull start maybe older ? .At least engine wise .
I do own an odd ball piece of machinery though it is more farm related , A Villiers engined winch on a sled / base plate around 30" long , i got it off a boat at Selby nr York .The guy said it had been a post rammer and he got it to fit as a heavy duty winch , it has a foot pedal that when pressed engages a rubber idler wheel between engine and cable drum .When you take your foot off ,  the drum lets go and i supose the hammer fell and did it's job on the post .Though i am not certain as modern sewer winches fitted to cable trailers bear a resemblence .
So it may have started off on a cable trailer and ended up ramming in fence posts before it ended up on a 60' converted barge , then into my garage ....
I just love to hear the sound of older engines ........

Best thing you could have done - remove the legs , the one i had , if picked up by the front handle to roll it around used to have a mind of it's own .Either trying to flop to one side or more often than not it would try to up end itself , I had to roll it with the stand feet almost toughing the ground .
It cut ok though , Looking at how you have fabricated your new stand , You could easily add a tube under the saws bed with a bolt welded to it loose fixed through the  bed .This would enable say a 6 foot length of tube with "A" frame style supports at their extrematies to be inserted at each side of the saw as work supports .The addition of a couple of 6" lengths of tube over the support tubes with simple "T" section support plates welded to them would make a propper job of it .The sliding tube supports could have simple holes and locking pins to enable for quick length changes .And of course due to the bolt through the saw bed , mitre cuts would be easier on long lengths as the swiveling allowed by the bolt enables the support to be turned to the deired angle and still create a solid structure .

No problem Ian , it was nice to see some one else had one as well .
Though i do not know if yours has been retrofitted with the die carrier or if it was a factory upgrade to make usage easier maybe ! .

Here's a couple of photo's of the triple head dies for cutting / rolling the threads on the spokes , just so you know what they look like  .
Note the split collet so different diameter spokes can be threaded , and the angled lead in on the dies .
Where the one in the articles lead images seems to be for a single size interchangable die ! .

Lifes too short be be constantly moaned at with regard to such mundane subjects as " But what good is it " or " Why do want another one " .
So i have taken steps to reduce the moans from the wife and purchased her her first authentic vintage hand tool .
My hopes were high but not for long .
The sudden realisation of the fact that i had given her the perfect ( and easily thrown ) means of anger management dawned .
"Let sleeping dogs lie" sprang to mind , even iff they snore whilst doing so .....
But it looks nice after a dip in the electrolosis tank , followed by a quick buff up then a coating of Liberon Iron Paste ( Grapite paste ) to bring it back to life .
 

The current model has the full stereophonic subwoofer augmented surround sound with corner tweeters .
I had the  acoustic deadening  retro fitted to myself
OUCH , her hearings still set to max as she's just come in to see what i was laughing at and prodded me in the ribs after reading the posts .

Realise this is an older post but as a new member i have just found it - I got my 230v version back in 1988 second hand and still have it today .They cut anything and the length of the bar ( 3 foot ) gets the job done fast .The little motor is indeed a wonder as it cuts through privet and beach hedges without flinching .

Sounds a bit like my wife , but when i place a sheet of plywood on the kitchen table she takes notice as she knows somethings entering her domain that should'nt be there .
This is more of a long dark winters night problem as i rationalise that why heat a workshop when we are already heating the house ! .
But the usual " Why " crops up when i say i am off to pick something new up .
Usually followed by the " I thought you were taking me out shopping " as though i had taken notice of her asking me to do so 3 day's previously ? .Usually asked whilst i am taking something apart and methodically remembering where every nut and bolt came from .....
But this winter i shall remember to sit with my back to a wall - so i can see the iron coming .
Either that or fit a radiator to the Wolseley Wd header tank to heat the workshop for free whilst running a little genny off the pulley for light , now theres and idea in the making .
 

I own a few electric welders , Migs with and without gas , an Oxford oil filled monster and several stick welders .Last year i purchased a Chinese electronic inverter Tig / Stick welder . A 200 amp model of the all electronic variety ( no heavy coils inside ) .
So i decided to give ally welding a go , something i had always avoided like the plague .
And to my suprise found it to be easy ! .
As the rod arks up i have to simply lay the rod down the break , none of this weaving side to side or making an " e " movement as with the steel rods .
A 12" rod is gone in 5 or 6 seconds it's that fast a process .
The welder set at 160 amps with a negative torch polarity works really well on water pump casings of around 1/4" wall thickness .
After a few water pump housing repares for people i dared try it on a 1974 Yamaha TY80 side casing of only 2.5mm thickness at 120 amps.
Plus a plate had to be welded in along the top of the casing where the chain had broke the whole thing away .
The inside aint pretty as i added extra blobs to stop vibration cracking and just left them  , but the amount of ally laid down allows for a good reshaping back to origonal profile on the outside .
The main break was right along the curve where the casing drops to the chain guard , heavily splitered and bashed .
But it looks good now .
I hold my hands upto not getting on with Tig welding at all , but this new welder has enabled me to ally weld at last .
Fast and easy , just remember to clean the break up good and give it a wire brushing with a stainless brush to remove all the grime then blast it clean with carb cleaner to make sure it's clean .
 

I got them off the well known auction site , they were a tad expensive at £15 for 10 3.5mm rods , but the price of a new casing soon offsets the cost of the rods .
And i have managed to repare 3 water pumps , the TY and used my last rod last weekend welding an Ally foot bar back on a pushchair .
All in all they have opend up a whole new area of welding for me .
Of note is tthat i did not preheat the casings as the process is that fast the heat stays localised .
And when you do a blob of weld  , i scrape the rods tip on a house brick to remove the flux bulid up .( a little white clump falls right off the tip ) allowing you to strike an ark without scraping along the jobs break line as i found this left spatter and black holes in the ally casings .
Goto the auction site and search for " Aluminium welding rods " and scroll through all the Tig rods finding all the suppliers of the flux coated stick rods to find the size / quantity you require .
And remember that all you may know about using steel rods goes out the window with Aluminium , as they burn so fast all you need to do is drop your hand towards the job as the rod
shortens , simply laying the run of weld along the break line .
edit -
Forgot i had none left so have just purchased a 12 pack of Harris 26 rods for £19 , so the price has gone up a little but you now get an extra 2 rods .

Lifes too short be be constantly moaned at with regard to such mundane subjects as " But what good is it " or " Why do want another one " .
So i have taken steps to reduce the moans from the wife and purchased her her first authentic vintage hand tool .
My hopes were high but not for long .
The sudden realisation of the fact that i had given her the perfect ( and easily thrown ) means of anger management dawned .
"Let sleeping dogs lie" sprang to mind , even iff they snore whilst doing so .....
But it looks nice after a dip in the electrolosis tank , followed by a quick buff up then a coating of Liberon Iron Paste ( Grapite paste ) to bring it back to life .